Felafel roll

Felafels are a veggie delight. You've probably tried a dodgy one from a street vendor, to be avoided at all costs. Similarly, I had a dry one at a cafe recently. I am fussy about these little Middle Eastern chickpea balls. They are so simple to make yet sometimes they can go so wrong. These homemade ones are very nice. There's a little work in rolling them into balls, especially if the mixture is too wet. You might need to add some more flour. Falafels apparently originated in Egypt but they are now so popular that a certain fast food brand markets a McFalafel. Falafels are high in protein and fibre so a good news story for vegetarians.

Ingredients
3/4 cup of frozen broad beans, thawed, peeled (I used tinned butter beans - easier!)
1 can of chickpeas
1/3 cup of coarsely chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf is best but I used garden parsley)
1 small red onion, chopped coarsely
1/3 cup (50 g) of plain flour
2 teaspoons of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of bi-carb soda

 Method
1. Blend beans, chickpeas, parsley, onion, flour, coriander, cumin and bi-carb soda in a food processor until almost smooth.
2. Using a tablespoon, shape spoonfuls into ball-shaped patties.
3. Lay out on a tray and leave in the fridge for 30 mins.
4. Heat a frypan with a little oil and cook falafels until brown on both sides.
5. Place falafels on wrap bread, smothered with hummus, iceberg lettuce, tomato, red onion and a little sauce (chilli, barbecue, tomato). Wrap up tightly to serve.

Tomato and chickpea curry

This curry was inspired by the fact that I had Roma tomatoes needing to be used up and the discovery of a can of chickpeas in the pantry. It's quick to make and very tasty. You can add more curry powder if you prefer a stronger curry flavour.



Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas (you can boil your own from a food co-op but they smell and a can is much easier!)
2 - 3 small onions
2 - 4 cloves of garlic
2 - 3 tbspns curry powder
dash of coriander seeds
good shake of cumin
salt n pepper
approximately 6 - 8 Roma tomatoes
135ml light coconut milk
1 tbspn olive oil
rice

Method
1. Add oil to fry pan and allow to heat.
2. Chop onions and garlic. Fry on low to medium heat until onions are soft.
3. Add curry powder (you can use more if you want more curry flavour). Stir.
4. Add coriander seeds and cumin, along with salt and pepper (to taste).
5. Drain the chickpeas from the can. Add about 3/4 of the can to the curried onion mixture. Stir.
6. Pour in light coconut milk (make sure it does not boil).
7. Add tomatoes and cook on moderate heat around 10 mins, or until you can smell curry.

8. Cook rice to serve with curry (I usually make mine in a microwave, cooking on medium heat for around 20 mins).
9. Serve curry with rice.

Unfortunately vegerama's blood pressure has skyrocketed lately, so you expect to see some lighter, low cal meals from now on, as she tries to shift some blubber.